The MCU’s Young Avengers: Who are they?

CORE TEAM

The Young Avengers. A team of young adults pushed together through happenstance to stop a force that no other hero could. This team assembled and brought to life by Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung back in April 2005. A team of spunky young heroes who thought they were saving the world from a threat that the Avengers couldn’t deal with in a day and age where the Avengers weren’t around. These kids put on homemade costumes and went running into the face of danger on the world of a boy from the future—with nothing to back him up but a broken down computer program that had each of them listed as a “backup plan”.

These were the Young Avengers. While the first team (Asgardian, Iron Lad, Hulkling, and Patriot) were a hot mess who could barely handle themselves facing off every day thugs, it was thanks to the help of Kate Bishop and Cassie Lang that they really shone. Name changes, costume redesigns, and even a new member with the introduction (and break out) of Speed.

So we have the base of the team, the core of the team, and their motivation for assembling. To save the world from a threat no one else could. Even though they were teens, the Avengers were gone and no one else was listening. So these kids stepped up and took the reins. They had mountains to climb and hit some rocky patches, just like the Avengers did, but in the long run, this group of teen heroes became a staple of how teen hero groups should be. It’s so sad to me we have yet to get more out of them in comics. For years, the comic fans of the team begged and pleaded for more. Sure, we got a second “season” of sorts, and then we got some spin offs. But it wasn’t the same as it was before. Not until Children’s Crusade and boy did that hurt.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is going about things differently from what Mr. Heinberg did. After all, it’s not very “realistic” to just toss in a bunch of teenagers (or in this case young adults) into a pre-established universe with no backstory for them. Not with the huge amount of backstory the rest of the MCU already has surrounded it. So they had to set up a base. A simple setup, sure, but will the wait be worth it? I think it will be. Honestly, from the buildup so far, I’m hyped.

Let’s start at the beginning, shall we? (And forgive me if this one gets long.)

Ant-Man came out in 2015 and gave us the first look at our first young hero of the team. Cassandra Lang. Scott Lang’s daughter. Now, as a fan, the moment they announced that the main Ant-Man would be Scott, I knew Cassie would appear. Mostly because Scott’s motivation for becoming Ant-Man was based completely on his love for his daughter and her medical issues. Seeing the little Cassie in the movie was heartwarming, and sparked the first “What If” questions in my mind, and I’m sure lots of fans too.

In the comics she was always hanging around the Avengers as it was, the moment Scott signed up she was there. But now we have a unique look at things. Scott was the same basically (a few bits and pieces changed for flow wise), and of course we don’t really get to see Hank Pym (now come on folks put the pitch forks down—MCU Hank is just peachy as a person) shine as Ant-Man, but the movie flows nice and it’s got a snarky sense of humor you expect with Scott Lang. It fit him, and it was a nice, brief introduction to Cassie. The adorable little daughter who we all could see (she kept the giant ant as a pet—that was totally foreshadowing and you can’t convince me otherwise), marveling at her father’s new career. Her wide-eyed stare as he fought a villain in miniature size through her room? Yeah, that was planting a seed that was about to grow (yes, pun very much intended here).

Oh, the next one is big, especially for me.

WandaVision showcased Wanda Maximoff creating a pocket dimension in a small little town called Westview. She lived there happily with her husband Vision, and the two started a family together. What’s important about this? The family she created. Of course we all knew Vision, he was first shown off in Age of Ultron. He became a staple of the Avengers after that, leading up to his death in Infinity War. Here, Wanda brings him back to life so they can be together and she can have her Happily Ever After. But what does she want more than anything? A family. She wants children. Well, Vision isn’t really capable of giving her that. At least not to my understanding. However, Wanda’s powers can do that. As we see in the show, Wanda suddenly becomes pregnant. Within episodes, she has two twin boys, who she names William and Thomas.

These are two more of the Young Avengers, Billy and Tommy, and in WandaVision we get nods to their time on the team in comics. During Halloween, the boys even take up costumes that resemble the ones they would wear in the comics. But the most interesting thing of all for the boys, is their growing and budding powers. William’s powers start right from the get-go. We see him shying away from Agatha (you really have to pay attention to this bit of notice it as it’s subtle), hinting that he can sense her magical powers and the evil that dwells within her. Then we hear him talking about being linked telepathically with Vision and even Thomas, even knowing when they are in trouble. When Vision is outside the barrier of Westview, it was William who told his mother that he was in trouble, and when asked how he knew that William just replied that he just knew. A connection to his mother’s powers and her creation, Vision, that was seen in Children’s Crusade in the comics.

Now the whole Twin Thing just doesn’t get touched on much in comics, other than a joke, and I will not toss in my two cents here about it. But a connection between William and his brother. In the comics, Billy and Tommy don’t even know each other until the team busts Tommy out of the juvenile prison. Later they gain a connection, but nothing that is really shown in this show. It’s hinted at that there could be something there, but nothing’s confirmed.

As for Thomas, well, he is very easy. His super speed shows up at the perfect moment. In a moment of need for his family. Of course, in the comics, Tommy calls himself Speed, because he flat out refuses to take his uncle’s name of Quicksilver. But the two of them share a power set. What was the quote from Maria Hill in Age of Ultron? “He’s fast, and she’s weird.” Yeah, that’s William (Billy) and Thomas (Tommy) as well.

Sadly, the end of WandaVision left fans of these two future Young Avengers with heart break as (like in the comics) Wanda had to dis-spell the magic holding them together. She had to basically “destroy” her own children and set free the people of Westview. But Wanda will find them again. She’s set on a path to do so and we see that in End Credit scenes and I truly believe that’s why she’s out in the middle of nowhere in the trailers for Multiverse of Madness. If that’s the case, then maybe we will get to see the twins pop up soon again in the MCU, just like Cassie did in Endgame.

Marvel’s next show didn’t really leave me with any hope for more Young Avengers. I wasn’t expecting any, to be honest, and I ended up surprised when I realized what was happening at this point. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, while a good show wasn’t as catching story wise as WandaVision or other MCU shows are. It’s still amazing, but it’s more a buddy cop sort of situation and I’ve never really been a fan of those. If I wanted that, I’d really rather just watch Bad Boys. But that is all besides the point. The show did something that was, to me, a bit out of left field.

There was this story line that was included in the first run of the Young Avengers, featuring Isaiah Bradley, one of three hundred who had tested on with the super solider serum. He ended up going to war and fighting as Captain America (this was, of course, after Steve Rogers was long dead), the American government seen this as treason and threw him in jail. When he finally got released, he lived a quiet life. He ended up married with kids, and then grandchildren. Isaiah Bradley was a symbol just like Steve Rogers, but for a whole new generation and culture.

But that isn’t where the story ended, no. You see those grandchildren? One of them, Eli, wanted to be just like his grandfather. He took up his colors and shield and ran off to fight on the streets. When a strange boy from the future showed up, he lied to him and told him he too had the strength from the super soldier serum. Eli ended up being named Patriot, and he was one of the founding members of the Young Avengers.

Both Isaiah and Eli appear in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Isaiah’s story is the same, but so far, we don’t really know much about Eli. Sure we see him, but other than being some street punch who wants to defend his grandfather from these two Avengers, he isn’t much. Then we don’t really see him again. There isn’t even a hint later, either. Personally, it wouldn’t hurt me if we didn’t see him again. Eli has a good character arc, but he isn’t necessary for the Young Avengers. For a season two of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier? Now that might be interesting.

Hawkeye. Kate Bishop. Do I have to say more? Yes, well, I guess I do. The show took some different turns which were nifty to see, and I won’t spoil them here as the show only just came out back a few months. But if you’ve read anything of the Young Avengers and know Kate’s story, you won’t mind the switch up. The entire show is a wild ride, and it’s one wonderful moment after another. It showcases the very best out of Kate as a person and a hero.

So one change they made I was a little annoyed with was they took away one of her big motivations. Instead of wanting to defend herself and other women, she now wants to be just like Hawkeye. Because she saw him in the middle of some crazy situation with only a bow and arrow, and he was handling it like a champ (Spoiler Alert—He was not and is in fact a total disaster and you can’t convince me otherwise). In the Young Avengers comics, we were told she’d gotten assaulted (hinted at sexually) in a park. No one came to her aid, and she ended up defenseless, alone, and traumatized. But also motivated. She picked up many martial arts, weapons training, and finally she picked up learning archery. Why? Because she never again wanted to be a victim.

The change to her story and motivations, while a little heartbreaking, doesn’t break her character in the slightest. Kate is still an outspoken, sassy, human disaster of a woman who is trying her hardest to be the best she can be. She’s trying to prove to herself and to her parent that she can do whatever she is putting her mind to, and she had some success with it. When she meets Clint finally, she realizes her idol is just like she is. He is flawed and human, and the two of them match like two sides of a coin. They make a good team, and the show and the comics differ little from that part of things. We clearly have not seen the last of Kate Bishop, who even Clint Barton was about to call Hawkeye before the show came to its close.

So our last main core member is one that you had to pay attention to see enter the MCU, because they don’t really outright tell you he’s there. While anyone that was on any sort of social media might have seen some hashtags looking for him and waiting for his arrival, it wasn’t until the last moments of Loki that we finally got some clue to who he really was. Unless, of course, you already knew.

If you haven’t guessed by now, the one I speak of is none other than Nathaniel Richards aka Kang the Conqueror aka Iron Lad. He had so many names though that it’s really hard to name them all, but those really are the most important ones for this topic. Nate, as he’s dubbed in the Young Avengers comics, is a time traveler from the 31st century. He comes back to the past to stop Kang from taking over a time where the Avengers can’t stop him, because they aren’t there. Nate doesn’t know the Avengers aren’t in that time period, of course, until he arrives to find their base (The Avengers Manor) destroyed. There he finds the fail-safe program of Vision’s which details teenage children of Avengers members who could take over for them if the Avengers ever fell. Nate uses this list to assemble his own team.

But, plot twist, turns out Nate IS Kang! But a younger version of him! GASP. Well, not really. If you read the books back when they first came out, maybe it would have shocked you, but anyone who has read any sort of Marvel comic ever could probably have seen the twist coming a mile away. Kang ends up showing up and Nate has to return to his time, to stop Kang from doing his thing. Sad times for the team, but Nate ended up winning in the end and they defeated Kang for the day. Sadly, we don’t see Nate show back up in the comics for a long time after that, and when he comes back, he comes to stop Billy, and that’s a can of worms I won’t get into.

But the one we see in Loki? That is NOT Iron Lad. No. It’s an older man. An adult who had lived beyond time and space to where he didn’t even go by a normal name anymore. When Loki finally meets him, he even warns the god and his female variant that killing him would unleash an evil far greater than anything either of them had ever seen. Did she take heed of this? Nope. In one instant, Loki was a hero… and we see the death of He Who Remains and the birth of Kang the Conqueror.

We see little of the actual Kang, just a statue. But you can see just from that statue and how things in the TVA look, he was probably not the nicest person. It’ll probably have to wait until season two before we really see anything else, unless they threw a curve ball at us in Multiverse of Madness. I wouldn’t put it past Marvel to toss in some variants into that movie with Loki (as we know he will be in the movie—just not what role he will play). I hope that we shall see Nate show up sooner rather than later. Maybe with a different list, a list created by Stark or Fury?

BONUS ROUND

Alright, so now that we’ve covered the base team, let’s cover some potential filler team members, because Marvel is going to want a team that’s as stacked up as the Avengers were if they really are going to push this group. There is no reason that they can’t either. The next group is going to prove to all of you that Marvel has the chops in their Cinematic Universe to stack up a Young Avengers team to be just as good if not better than the actual Avengers.

Let’s start with the first one we’ve seen, a Variant Loki. He was only a child, but he has potential to come back later, just like Lokis always do. The Young Avengers team had a version of Loki (which is an entire story that Marvel should totally look into doing on the big screen—I’d totally pay for an Agent of Asgard Loki movie, just saying). He was snarky and sassy, much like his adult counterpart, we all know and love, and he would blend it well with the sass and snark of the other team members we already have seen. I’d love to see the Kid Loki interact with Kate Bishop of Eli Bradley, or even have a budding friendship with William Maximoff. Seeing him play off of the other young adults might give him the keys to showcase what a Loki really is. We know from seeing the MCU’s version already that he can be a hero when he wants to be. But what if we give this kid some friends and see what would happen if you gave a Loki a real chance? It would be fun to see him turn into an honest hero.

The next one we’ve seen is only in a trailer, so I don’t know how much I can say about her in the Cinematic Universe yet. I know it’s America Chavez, because of the jacket we see her wearing in the trailer. It’s her signature. She’s also seen on the cast list for the movie, so we have that. I’m excited to see her on the big screen and see her finally get some attention more than just from comics. This also would bring it back around to bringing in Kid Loki to the team as the two have a great Big Stern Sister Little Annoying Brother relationship. Also, her friendship with Kate is top-notch one of the best parts of one of Kate’s solo run books.

The next one up I believe is the one I am most looking forward to on the little screen. Kamala Khan. Ms. Marvel. I remember back when her first appearance came out in comics and everyone was all up in arms about it, and then she became a household name. It’d be hard to find a comic fan who doesn’t know her name at this point. From her appearances in cartoons to her being the main character of The Avengers video game, surely Marvel knew what they were doing with this character. She’s got appearances in The Marvels coming up, and her own show as well. Seeing Kamala finally join the Young Avengers would be something special, as she didn’t in the comics. She had a team she ended up joining, The Champions, but as we have seen none of them even hinted at… it’s way more likely if she joins a team it will be the Young Avengers.

The last one that the MCU has in store for us is Riri Williams. Robert Downey Jr. even went on twitter when this character came out and welcomed her into the MCU as Ironheart. She’ll be coming in the future and I hope she joins up with the group. She’s a super genius, something that the team sort of lacks and she could fill that roll easily. If they want to match up with the Avengers, she would fill the Iron Man role perfectly as she has built an Iron Man armor out of scraps from MIT’s garbage (did I mention she was only 15 when she did this?). She would be a great asset to a Young Avengers team, and she’s going to be a sparkling gem to the MCU in the coming future.

END CREDITS

So there you have it. The Young Avengers in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and all the characters I believe are possibilities. Are there more? Probably. There are tons of teen heroes throughout Marvel’s history. They could introduce new ones in Multiverse of Madness if they want to. They could toss in someone out of left field if they wanted to. Like the fan favorite, Miles Morales.

He’s Spider-Man from another universe, but we got to see his uncle Aaron Davis in the Spider-Man Homecoming film, so maybe they will toss Miles at us. There has also been talks of a Spider-Gwen, but those of course are just rumors.

Then again, we never want to turn a blind ear or eye to rumors when you’re dealing with comics or the House of Mouse.

Enjoying my lists, reviews, and stories? Check out the rest of my work, share it with your friends, or maybe leave me a small tip. Every little bit helps!

Thanks for reading!